DUKE 
UNIVERSITY 


DIVINITY SCHOOL 
LIBRARY 


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Memorial Collection 


DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED BY THE 
FAMILY OF 


COLONEL FLOWERS 


James Madison Pendleton, D.D. 


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9 


REV. JAMES MADISON PENDLETON 


THE FIRST ANNUAL MEETING 
}/ 
OF THE 


KENTUCKY BAPTIST HISTORICAL SOCIETY 


— 


Was Held in Campbellsville, Kentucky 
8P, M., June 14th, $904 


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So Much of the Exercises of the Evening 


as Pertain to the Life of 


REV. JAMES MADISON PENDLETON, D.D. 


Are Here Preserved 


In Tender and Loving Remembrance by 
Mr, and Mrs, B. F, PROCTER 


LOUISVILLE, KY. 
BAPTIST BOOK CONCERN 
1904 


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INTRODUCTORY 


INTRODUCTORY 


The sixty-seventh annual meeting of the Bap- 
tist General Association of Kentucky convened 
with the Campbellsville Baptist Church June 
15th, 1904. 

Preliminary to this meeting, and by courtesy 
of the Baptist Ministers’ Conference conven- 
ing at that time, the choice hour of 8 p. m.. 
June 14th, was given to the exercises of the 
first annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist 
Historical Society. The church was thronged 
by a large and representative gathering of the 
Baptists of Kentucky. The faces of the fath- 
ers, full of sober recollections of the heroic 
past, and the countenances of young men eager 
to catch inspiration for future service, were 
gathered together in sympathy with the pur- 
poses of the new organization, and in the spirit 
of this special occasion. The occasion would 
be memorable not only for the reading of a 
special paper upon the life and labors of Dr. 

7 


8 Introductory. 


J. M. Pendleton, but also for the unveiling, as 
the property of the Society, of a superb oil 
portrait of this man, whose life is so linked with 
Kentucky Baptists. Accompanying the por- 
trait there is also the gift to the Society of a 
handsome set of Dr. Pendleton’s Works. These 
generous gifts are testimonials of love from 
Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Procter, of Bowling Green, 
Ky. 

When the Secretary of the Society, Rev.. J. 
P. Jenkins, announced the absence of the Pres- 
ident, Dr. W. J. McGlothlin, it formed a happy 
incident that B. F. Procter, of Bowling Green, 
whose personal interest in the occasion was 
so close and tender, was unanimously called to 
preside. This position he accepted with a few 
appropriate words. The old hymn, “How firm 
a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,” was sung, 
and Dr. J. S. Dill, the Bowling Green pastor, 
being called upon to lead in prayer, invoked 
the blessing of God upon the exercises, and 
prayed that it might prove an inspiration to 
future labors and toils in the upbuilding of the 
Kingdom. 

Dr. T. T. Eaton, pastor of the Walnut Street 
Baptist Church, then was introduced and read 
his admirable paper on the Life and Charac 
ter of Dr. Pendleton. From boyhood days Dr. 


Introductory. 9 


Eaton had known Dr. Pendleton, had been 
among his most intimate personal friends, and 
had been called to take part in his funeral ob- 
Sequies. It was especially fitting that he should 
speak from the fullness of his personal knowl- 


edge. 


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PAPER BY T. T. EATON, D.D., LL.D.. 


a7. > 


JAMES MADISON PENDLETON, D.D. 


[This paper was read by Rev. T. T. Eaton, D.D., 
LL.D., before the Kentucky Baptist 
Historical Society, at Campbells- 
ville, June 14th, 1904.] 


HACKERY says that it takes three genera- 
tions to make a gentleman. So we 
begin with Henry Pendleton, grand- 

father of the subject of our sketch. We find 
him on July 7, 1774, presiding over a meeting 
in Culpepper, Va., called ‘‘to consider the most 
effective method to preserve the rights and 
liberties of America.’? Of course he became 
a soldier in the War of the Revolution, and 
his letters home, which have been preserved, 
prove him to have been a man of piety. One 
of these letters from the army to his wife says: 
‘“T hope the Lord has heard your prayers for 
me.” 

Henry Pendleton had four children—Mary, 
Benjamin, Henry and John. The last was the 
father of James Madison Pendleton, and his 
record shows he was worthy of his father. John 

13 


14 James Madison Pendleton. 


Pendleton studied under Andrew Broaddus, of 
Caroline county, Va., and at the close of his 
course taught school. In 1806 he married Miss 
Frances J. Thompson, an aunt of the Hon. 
Richard J. Thompson, Secretary of the U. 8S. 
Navy, under President Hayes. After his mar- 
riage John Pendleton engaged in mercantile 
pursuits, renting “Twyman’s Store,” in Spot- 
sylvania county, and carrying on a general 
trade. He, too, was an earnest Christian man. 

Of such lineage James Madison Pendleton 
was born in Spotsylvania county, Va., Novem- 
ber 20, 1811. He was named after the then 
President Madison as a token of the regard 
cherished for him by the Pendleton family. 
James had two sisters, Mary and Frances, old- 
er than himself. In 1812 the family moved to 
Kentucky and settled on a 300-acre farm in 
Christian county. There the boy grew up. At 
nine years of age he started to school, and was 
initiated into the mysteries of Webster’s Spell- 
‘ing Book and Murray’s Grammar. His father 
was the teacher. He said of himself: “My tem- 
per was bad in my boyhood, and when mad the 
appearance of my face, as I once happened to 
see it in a glass, was frightful. It was some- 
times necessary for my father to whip me, 
though I believe he never did so in school,” 


James Madison Pendleton. 15 


adding with characteristic modesty, “I richly 
deserved every whipping I got.” 

His childhood was spent in a little section 
three by six miles, in which Jefferson Davis and 
Roger Q. Mills grew up. He was not a very 
strong boy, having frequently to take doses of 
“nauseous medicine,” but he was fond of play 
and fun, and was a leader of the boys in their 
sports. While the subject of many serious im- 
pressions, especially under his mother’s pray- 
ers, he did not make profession of faith in 
Christ till he was seventeen years of age. He 
had a striking experience of grace, being con- 
verted, after a season of deep penitence, while 
praying in the forest under a tree. He was 
baptized April 14, 1829, by Elder John S. Will- 
son. In February following, to his surprise, 
the church licensed him to preach, though he 
did not preach a regular sermon for a year and 
a half. Next year he took charge of a neigh- 
borhood school, which he soon gave up because 
some of the patrons were displeased that he 
taught only six or seven hours a day. 

His first sermon was at West Union church, 
ten miles west of Hopkinsville, on the fourth 
Sunday in September, 1831, the text being “God 
commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” 
Not long after he preached his second sermon, 


16 James Madison Pendleton. 


taking for his text “So Great Salvation.” Writ- 
ing of this years afterwards, he says: “I had 
exhausted my scanty store of theology and 
could think of no other subject on which I 
could say anything.” He studied with Robert 
T. Anderson at Russellville, and presently 
taught at a salary of $15 a month. In 1833 he 
became pastor of Bethel and Hopkinsville 
churches, giving two Sundays a month to each. 
His salary was $100 a year from each church, 
though Bethel soon made her salary $150 a 
year. He now lived in Hopkinsville and 
studied with Prof. J. D. Rumsey. 

On the 1st of January, 1837, he entered on 
his pastorate at Bowling Green, where he he- 
came eminent, and where he received the un- 
heard-of salary of $400 a year. In October he 
went to Louisville to aid in organizing the Gen- 
eral Association of the Baptists of Kentucky, 
which body he served for five years as clerk. 
When the jubilee meeting of the Association 
was held in Walnut Street Church, Louisville, 
October, 1887, Dr. Pendleton was one of the 
six survivors of the original body. These have 
now all gone home. He made one of the jubilee 
addresses, telling of the condition of the de- 
nomination in Kentucky in 1837. 

It was in August, 1837, that a new coloring 


James Madison Pendleton. 17 


was given to his life. In company with John 
L. Waller, he started to an Association. They 
stopped in Glasgow and spent the night with 
Richard Garnett, Esq., whose daughter Cath- 
erine, then for the first time met our hero. 
He says he was not favorably impressed at 
first. How she was impressed is not on record. 
Next day Miss Catherine, her brother, and 
these two preachers rode thirty miles to the 
Association, and that ride completed her con- 
quest. It was not till October, however, that 
the young preacher declared his love, and in 
response she “said nothing.” Near the close 
of the year she consented, and in March, 1838, 
Miss Catherine Stockton Garnett became Mrs. 
James Madison Pendleton. A more happily 
mated pair it has not been my good fortune to 
know. 

Their bridal tour was taken after they had 
visited friends in Bowling Green and relatives 
in Christian county. The said bridal tour was 
on horseback to Louisville and return, an in- 
teresting account of which he gives in his Rem- 
iniscences. Recollections of this bridal tour 
were ever fresh in his mind, and he often took 
pleasure in relating incidents connected with it. 

In 1844 he took a trip to Philadelphia to at- 
tend the Triennial Convention. Of this trip he 
kept a diary, which I wish to reproduce in the 


18 James Madison Pendleton. 


Western Recorder, and so it can be passed over 
here. It is thoroughly characteristic of the 
man. His impressions and his estimates of the 
then leading men in the denomination are of 
great interest. 

He remained pastor of Bowling Green till 
1849, when he was persuaded to accept the call 
to Russellville, where he had a hand in found- 
ing Bethel College. He returned to Bowling 
Green, however, after a year’s absence. Here 
he remained till the close of 1856, when he re- 
moved to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to become pas- 
tor of the Baptist church and Professor of The- 
ology in Union University, of which my father 
was President. I remember my father’s great 
anxiety and his vigorous efforts to bring Dr. 
Pendleton to Murfeesboro, as well as his great 
joy in securing him. At my father’s death, 
January 12, 1859—whose funeral sermon he 
preached from Acts 7:59, “Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit’—Dr. Pendleton became chairman 
of the faculty and was acting President. He 
also became associate editor of The Tennessee 
Baptist and the Southwestern Baptist Review. 
All this time he cultivated a farm adjoining 
town. 

When the war came on, Dr. Pendleton, who 
had all along favored the gradual emancipa- 


James Madison Pendleton. 19 


tion of the Negroes, took a decided stand for the 
Union. And though the community almost 
unanimously favored secession and the excite 
ment was intense, such was the respect he com- 
manded that no insult was offered him. He was 
never in personal danger, although he appre- 
hended that he was so, all unconscious of the 
profound regard everybody had for him. 

He continued as pastor and in cultivating 
his farm, though the University was broken 
up, until 1862, when he turned his face north- 
ward, and made his way to Ohio, stopping to 
visit friends in Kentucky on the way and nar- 
rowly missed seeing his oldest son, who was in 
Bragg’s army, then on its Kentucky campaign. 
This son’s death in the battle of Perryville 
was a great sorrow to the whole family. John 
M. Pendleton was his name, and his body lies 
in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville. He was a 
noble man. 

Dr. Pendleton settled first in Hamilton, Ohio, 
whence he removed in 1865 to Upland, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he had a most happy pastorate 
of eighteen years, and where he laid down pas- 
toral work forever. He became one of the active 
managers of the American Baptist Publica- 
tion Society, and aided in founding Crozer 
Theological Seminary. On the completion of 


20 James Madison Pendleton. 


fifty years in the ministry, he presented a pa- 
per on the subject to the Baptist Ministers’ 
Conference in Philadelphia, that awakened very 
great interest and called forth many compli- 
ments. 

In 1883 he laid down his pastoral work. Un- 
der his ministry the church at Upland greatly 
prospered and sent forth two flourishing col- 
onies. It cost him a severe pang to lay down 
work he so loved, and with people who so loved 
him; but he felt the time had come for him to 
retire from the active ministry, though he re- 
mained useful to the last, dying as was said 
of Plato, with his pen in his hand. 

After resigning at Upland, he and Mrs. Pen- 
dleton divided their time between their four 
children—Mrs. Waters, at Murfreesboro; Mrs. 
Waggener, at Austin, Texas; Mrs. Procter, at 
Bowling Green, and Garnett Pendleton, Esq., 
in Philadelphia—children in every way worthy 

of their parentage. 

On March 13, 1888, was celebrated their gold- 
en wedding in the church at Bowling Green, 
and in the home of the Hon. and Mrs. B. F. 
Procter. It was a tenderly interesting occa- 
sion. It was my privilege to be present and to 
take part. The proceedings were broken up in 
a most unique way, of which I will speak later. 


James Madison Pendleton. a1 


It was on the 25th of January, 1891, in the 
church in Bowling Green that he preached his 
last sermon. His first sermon was on repent- 
ance and his last on sin. At noon on March 4, 
1891, he “fell asleep” and went to his reward. 
It was my fortune to do for him what he had 
done for both my father and my mother, viz.: 
to conduct his funeral. Of course my text was 
2 Tim. 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I 
have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 


“Ne’er to those mansions where the weary rest, 
Since their foundation came a worthier guest; 
Nor e’er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed, 
A fairer spirit, a more welcome shade.” 


Such is a brief sketch of the life of this great 
and good man. Let us now consider the man. 
Some incidents in his life that show his char- 
acter were not mentioned in the sketch, but 
were reserved for illustrating what manner of 
man Dr. Pendleton was. 


PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 


He was not what we would call a handsome 
man, but he rose higher. He had a classic head 
and erect stature, with an easy grace of move- 
ment. There was something regal in the flash 


22 James Madison Pendleton. 


of his eye, and the expression of his face 
showed rare benevolence. He attracted all who 
saw him, and there was a subtle magnetism 
that held them. His countenance was open, 
and one felt no risk of being repelled in ap- 
proaching him, and age did not mar his appear- 
ance. It brought no stoop to his shoulders and 
no cloud to his brow. That he was a born and 
bred gentleman was manifest to all beholders. 
Of medium size, he had a commanding pres- 
ence, and would have been a marked man in 
earth’s proudest assembly. There was no pe- 
culiarity of dress or manner. He did nothing 
to attract attention, and never seemed to be 
self-conscious. 


HIS WISDOM. 


He had perfect self-command. In an inti- 
mate acquaintance covering many years, I 
never knew him to manifest excitement or to 
be flurried. He seemed to be master of every 
situation. And he showed wisdom in dealing 
with others as well as with himself. When he 
became pastor in Hamilton, Ohio, there were 
two factions of long standing in the church. 
Neither side would make any advances toward 
the other. Yet Dr. Pendleton effectually 
brought them together and healed the breach. 


James Madison Pendleton. 93 


After laboring with them he announced a 
church meeting, and that certain seats were 
reserved for those members of either faction 
who were willing to be reconciled. Their tak- 
ing these seats meant that they retracted every- 
thing they had said offensive to others and 
asked forgiveness. When the meeting opened 
these seats were all filled with those who had 
been at variance, and the breach was healed 
without anybody’s saying a word about it. 
That was a master stroke. Well did the Bap- 
tist Ministers’ Conference of Philadelphia, in 
formal resolution, declare that Dr. Pendleton 
had “wisdom, ripened experience and good 
taste.” 

Another mark of his wisdom was that he 
grew old sweetly and gracefully. He did not 
resent the present in his recollections of the 
past. The Persian proverb was not fulfilled 
in his case—“The tendency of age is to sharp- 
en the thorns and wither the flowers of life.” 
He was mellowed by age without being soured 
or withered. His only regret at getting old 
was that his power for usefulness was dimin- 
ished. When in his last illness the doctors told 
him he could not live, he replied: “Well, gentle- 
men, you may be right, but I do not feel like 
a dying man.” What Coleridge said of Chan- 


24 James Madison Pendleton. 


ning was true of Dr. Pendleton, “He had the 
love of wisdom and the wisdom of love.” 


HIS MODESTY. 


In early life he was diffident, and while he 
overcame that largely, there was always a resi- 
duum of it that added to his modesty. He was 
a brave man and never shrank from responsi- 
bility, but he combined with high courage true 
modesty—a very rare combination. He could 
talk about himself without either self-deprecia- 
tion on the one hand, or boasting on the other. 
He would tell of his achievements as if he were 
a sympathetic observer rather than the doer of 
the deeds described. Note his letter of resig- 
nation to the church at Upland and his book of 
Reminiscences, his last and his sweetest book, 
written for his childrens’ sake and not at all 
for his own. As Canon Liddon said of Dean 
Mansell, Dr. Pendleton was “like all really 
great men, so homelike, so simple, so unpresum- 
ing, so perfectly indifferent to the opinions 
which might be formed about him—not through 
any contempt of other men, but through a low- 
ly estimate of himself—that they who saw him 
only on matters of ordinary business had no 
real opportunity of taking his true moral and 
intellectual measure.” 


James Madison Pendleton. a5 


Depreciating remarks and bitter words 
against him did not rankle in his heart. He 
would look at a bitter remark made about him 
as complacently as he would view a compli- 
ment. There was no vanity to breed and nour- 
ish resentment. As Wordsworth said of James 
Watt: “He never sought display, but was con- 
tent to work in that quietness and humility in 
which alone all that is truly great and good 
was ever done.” 


HIS ABILITY. 


As a preacher, he was clear, strong and im- 
pressive. Never impassioned, he was always 
logical and tender. The hearer was sure the 
preacher knew what he was talking about, and 
ever felt that he had great reserved power be- 
hind all that he said. He was mighty in the 
Scriptures, holding with unyielding grasp to 
“the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” 
While he never dazed or dazzled a congrega- 
tion, he never failed to edify and uplift them. 
His preaching never wore out. It was always 
fresh and nourishing. That was a great meet- 
ing he held at Upland, when he did all the 
preaching, and from night to night unfolded the 
way of life, until there were more than two 


26 James Madison Pendleton. 


hundred additions to the church, including 
twenty-seven married couples. That is preach- 
ing. He did not so much impress himself as the 
truth. His hearers seldom thought to ask 
whether he was a great preacher or not, so com- 
pJetely did he hide himself behind the great 
truths he held forth. He was always accurate, 
yet never dry; always logical, yet never heavy; 
always strong, yet never dull. Each sermon 
was complete, and so easy to remember. I can 
remember now sermons I heard him preach 
when I was but a child. There was an evenness 
in his preaching seldom seen. He used no 
thunderbolts and no platitudes. Always in- 
tensely in earnest, he cared little for ornament- 
ation in speech, and never attempted to soar. 
He rose with the greatness of his theme, and 
never by flights of oratory. His style was sim- 
ple, clear, and strong, and he made no failures. 
As Nordi said of Savonarola, “He was always 
equal to himself.” His style was what Justin 
McCarthy claimed for Dr. Barry, “at once 
strong and graceful, it penetrated with ease to 
the inner meaning of every question it touched, 
and illumined every point by some flash of 
artistic or poetic fancy.” 

As a writer, he took strong hold of the read- 
er. His style was clear and strong in writing 


James Madison Pendleton. aT 


as in preaching. He never wrote anything a 
second time, holding that this habit fostered 
carelessness in the writing. He first knew what 
he wished to say, and then wrote it carefully, 
and let it stand. 

His first book was “Three Reasons Why I 
am a Baptist,” and was the outcome of sermons 
he preached at Liberty church. This book has 
had a wide circulation on both sides of the At- 
lantic, and has been translated into Swedish. 
While associate editor of the Tennessee Bap- 
tist he wrote the articles which were put into 
a book that has had a marked influence in 
Southern Baptist history—“An Old Landmark 
Reset.” This book called forth many replies, 
and was a factor in a famous controversy. No 
one can deny the wonderful strength of the 
book. After thirty years’ discussion, Dr. N. 
M. Crawford, of Georgia, once President of 
Georgetown College, said that this book had 
never been answered. 

Dr. Pendleton’s first written controversy was 
with Alexander Campbell, a foeman worthy of 
his steel. Mr. Campbell did not always treat 
opponents with marked courtesy, but he so 
treated Dr. Pendleton. The question debated 
was the priority of repentance to faith. 


‘298 James Madison Pendleton. 


As associate editor of the Southern Baptist 
Review, he wrote a number of solid and schol- 
arly articles. He knew the New Testament, 
making it a rule to study it through in the 
Greek once every year. He wielded a Damascus 
blade in debate. Take an example—Dr. T. O. 
Summers, of Nashville, a famous Methodist 
divine, published a book on baptism, in which 
he said: “So numerous are the works on bap- 
tism, so worthless are most of them, so humble 
are the claims of the author of the following 
treatise, that he has not been without some un- 
pleasant apprehension in regard to its fate, if 
committed to the press.” Again: “Many of 
the works on baptism which teem from the 
press are utterly worthless.” Dr. Pendleton, 
quoting his language, says: “The worthless 
books referred to are, we suppose, Pedobaptist 
works, for the author certainly does not feel 
under obligation to supply any vacancy in the 
theological literature of Baptists.” Dr. Sum- 
mers argued that eis in connection with bap- 
tism does not mean into. After answering this 
argument, Dr. Pendleton concludes: “What a 
strange word this little eis is, if what the Pedo- 
‘baptists say of it is true. It will take a man 
into a house, into a ship, into a country, into 
a city, into heaven, into hell—into any place 


James Madison Pendleton. 29, 


in the universe except the water! Poor word! 
afflicted, it seems, with hydrophobia.” 

In 1868 he wrote his Church Manual, which 
is a recognized standard among our churches. 
A little later he wrote a capital treatise on the 
Atonement, and a clearer or more satisfactory 
discussion of that great subject, in such short 
compass, does not exist. In 1878 he wrote 
“Christian Doctrines,” which many regard as: 
the best book on the subject. In 1881 he edited 
and published the “Life and Times of Reuben 
Ross,” by James Ross. In 1884 he published 
his “Notes on the New Testament,” a book of 
great practical value. Then two years later came 
his “Notes of Sermons,” a valuable addition 
to our homiletical literature, which was highly 
praised by Chas. H. Spurgeon, who said, “These- 
‘Notes’ are sound, searching, savory. They in- 
struct and interest, edify and stimulate.” In 
1890, at the urgent request of his children, he 
wrote his last work, “Reminiscenses of a Long 
Life.” He devoted two months to this book, 
which is most delightful, not only for its facts,. 
but for its observations and opinions as well. 


HIS PIETY. 


Dr. Pendleton was a man of profound piety. 
He had the highest sense of honor and the- 


80 James Madison Pendleton. 


strongest sense of duty. The first thing he ever 
bought was a Bible. At the age of seventeen 
he had an old-fashioned Holy Spirit conversion. 
With a heart broken on account of his sins, he 
read Samuel Davies’ sermon on 1 Cor. 1:22, 24, 
.and while kneeling under a tree in the forest 
he found the Saviour and enlisted in Christ’s 
service, in which he so long showed himself a 
faithful soldier. He impressed his friends with 
his thorough conscientiousness, and he never 
flinched in his advocacy of truth, and so 
aroused antagonisms, some of them bitter and 
lasting. Never did he stop to count noses be- 
fore taking his stand on any question that 
arose, nor did he calculate who would stand 
with him and who would be arrayed against 
him. He asked only—what is true and right? As 
was said of John Bright, “he was ever ready to 
lay his popularity on the altar of duty.” He 
was willing to make just as many and just as 
bitter enemies as faithfulness to truth required. 
He was a hero of the highest type—a hero of 
truth. Several times did he say to me, what 
he repeated just before dying: “My grand pur- 
pose has been the establishment of truth.” 
Well did Dr. Martin B. Anderson write of him: 
“Your fidelity to your convictions, whether 
moral, religious, or political, has won for you 


James Madison Pendleton. 31 


the profoundest respect wherever you are 
known.” 


“He had no enemies, you say! 

My friend, your boast is poor; 

He who hath mingled in the fray 

Of duty, that the brave endure, 

Must have made foes. If he has none, 
Small is the work that he has done. 

He has hit no traitor on the hip, 

He has cast no cup from tempted lip; 
He has never turned the wrong to right, 
He has been a coward in the fight.” 


James Russell Lowell says: “You can never 
know a man’s moral genuineness until you 
know what he will do for a principle.” Dr. 
Pendleton loved Christ and His truth above 
all else, and, while his devotion to truth, as 
he saw it, made him bitter enemies, he was 
never bitter at them in return. He had what 
John Knox called “the spunk of Godliness,” 
along with tender gentleness and broad charity. 
“When he was reviled, he reviled not again.” 
Just before dying he said with a peculiar ten- 
derness: “I have never attempted to disparage 
any other brother.” 

At the Anniversaries in Washington in 1888, 
Dr. Pendleton was called on to lead in prayer. 


32 James Madison Pendleton. 


A reporter of a daily paper remarked: “That 
man prays as if he was used to it.” Ah! how 
we need such men to-day! We can say of Pen- 
dleton as Wordsworth said of Milton: 


“Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart; 

Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the 
sea, 

Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free; 

So didst thou travel on life’s common way 

To cheerful godliness, and yet thy heart 

The lowliest duties on itself did lay.” 


MRS. PENDLETON. 


Any account of Dr. Pendleton would be sadly 
incomplete which did not tell of the noble wo- 
man who for so many years was a true help- 
meet for him, and who so richly blessed his 
life. He ever felt his great obligation to her, 
and ever treated her with the greatest respect 
and the tenderest devotion. In his trials she 
was his chief earthly comfort. Always cheer- 
ful, she overcame in him any tendency to de- 
spondency in sorrow and trial. Her ready tact 
smoothed his path, and’ her intelligent love 
strengthened him for his great work. She was 
his chief earthly dependence, and she had a 
large share in his achievements. He said of her: 


MRS. CATHERINE STOCKTON GARNETT PENDLETON 


eta? 


James Madison Pendleton. 33 


“She has been more than all the world to me. 
In times of prosperity and times of adversity, 
in days of joy and days of sorrow, I have ever 
heard her voice encouraging and blessing me.” 
At the Jubilee meeting in Louisville she was 
present, though blind from the effects of cat- 
aract, and in his address there he said: “She, 
the wife of my young manhood, of my middle 
age, and of my old age, is here to enjoy these 
exercises. Deprived of sight, she can only hear 
‘your voices. How glad she would be to see 
your faces, especially the face of the Walnut. 
street pastor, whose father and mother she se 
much admired and loved thirty years ago. But 
it cannot be. Still, there is comfort unspeak 
able in the thought that there is in reserve what 
the ‘old theologians’ called the ‘beatific vision’ 
The saints are to ‘see His face.’ They are to 
behoid the Lamb in the midst of the throne.” 

Never in her blindness did Mrs. Pendleton 
utter the slightest complaint. With her re- 
markable energy she continued to teach her 
Sunday School class, though she could not see 
them, and her happy cheerfulness brightened 
all who came into her presence. 

At the golden wedding in the chursh at 
Bowling Green, Mrs, Pendleton sat in front, 
beside her honored husband. After I had tried 


34 James Madison Pendleton. 


to speak according to appointment, and found 
mnyself, in the flood of tender memories, unable 
to say what I had intended, Dr. Pendleton 
arose to respond. Speaking of God’s blessing 
upon the marriage whose fiftieth anniversary 
we were there to celebrate, he spoke of his in- 
debtedness to his wife, and turning to her said: 
“Now, dearest one, it is fitting that I speak a 
word or two to you. There is no earthly ob- 
ject so dear to my heart. You are not as you 
were fifty years ago to-night. Then, with elas- 
tic step, you walked with me to the marriage 
altar, and we pledged to each other our vows 
of loyalty and love. I do not recognize that 
elastic step now. Then your face was fresh 
and blooming; now the freshness and the bloom 
are gone, and wrinkles have taken their place, 
while gray hairs adorn your head. Then, and 
for forty-six years afterward, the expression 
of your mild blue eyes was always a benedic- 
tion; now that expression is no longer seen, for 
blindness has taken the place of sight. But, 
with these changes in you, my love has not 
changed. Bodily affliction has not eclipsed the 
intellectual and spiritual excellencies of your 
character. You are the same to me, and no 
kiss during half a century has been more deeply 
expressive of my love than the one I now give 


James Madison Pendleton. 35 


you.” Then he stooped over and kissed her up- 
turned face. They had arranged for singing, 
but no one there could sing, and the meeting 
closed in tears. 


“eh 


ONVEILING OF THE PORTRAIT 


ONVEILING OF PORTRAIT 


ITH the closing sentences of this tribute 
to a noble life and character both the 
reader and the congregation were in 

tears. Then by happy inspiration the male 
quartette arose and sung with melting pathos 
the sweet gospel hymn, ‘‘Wonderful Peace.’ 

The presentation of the portrait was next 
in order. Dr. J. N. Prestridge was fittingly 
chosen for this impressive ceremony. He was 
one whose youth had caught the power and in- 
spiration of intimate personal touch with the 
declining years of Dr. Pendleton. The portrait, 
hanging over the pulpit platform, had up to 
this moment been closely veiled. Dr. Pres- 
tridge being introduced spoke as follows: 

It was not my privilege to know Dr. Pendle- 
ton in the days of his manly strength, but it 
was my joy to know him in the evening tide 
of life, when he had laid aside the great bur- 
dens and responsibilities he was wont to bear 
and had permitted his loved ones to place an 

39 


40 James Madison Pendleton. 


arm chair for him by the hearthstone and 
again on the porch in the cool of the evenings. 
I would count myself happy to have known him 
in the early days as well, but I would not ex- 
change my knowledge and fellowship with him 
in this evening time, when he had laid aside his 
armor, for knowledge and fellowship with him 
in any other one period of his life. The bear- 
ing of the man was full of the consciousness 
of many long, well spent years; of pure living, 
of noble endeavor, of widely recognized schol- 
arship, of harvests reaped and wide sowings 
for yet other harvests, of means acquired for 
the needs of those dependent upon him, of the 
nearness of children and grandchildren who 
were already rising up to call him blessed, of 
the favor and presence of Him whom he had 
served, and of an abundant entrance waiting 
for him in heaven. All of these things were 
in his bearing, and they wrought in him calm 
assurance, reposeful strength, gentle approach- 
ableness, abiding graciousness, eagerness to 
bless, and glorious expectation. I doubt not the 
value of what he was and did for others in the 
noontide of his endeavor, but I rejoice that to 
me he came after harvesting into his life all 
of these graces of character. The memory of 
him as he welcomed me again and again as a 


James Madison Pendleton. 41 


younger brother; as he adapted himself to my 
needs, problems and hopes; as he taught and 
led and soothed my spirit (like one who taught 
and led and soothed not), the memory of all 
this abides with me like “a benediction after 
prayer.” That was years ago, but what he 
was within himself and what he was to me, are 
as vital and mighty to-day as they were in the 
years that are gone. 

I rejoice in this hour that it has come to me 
to pay this tribute to him out of my affection 
and gratitude. And so with a throbbing heart 
I present this excellent portrait of Dr. J. M. 
Pendleton, the gift of Hon. and Mrs. B. F. 
Procter, to the Kentucky Baptist Historical 
Society. 

I count you and myself happy, however, in 
that I now ask another’s hand to unveil the 
portrait, Mrs. B. F. Procter, the honored 
daughter in whose home I received the blessings 
I have mentioned, and in whose home one day 
angel messengers gathered to see him fall 
quietly to sleep and to triumphantly bear his 
spirit to its reward and its God. 

Mrs. Procter, thus called out, was escorted 
forward. As she stepped upon the platform 
the entire audience arose. She quietly re- 
moved the veil, and there stood revealed the 


42 James Madison Pendleton. 


noble features of him whose life was then pass- 
ing before us for an example. The audience 
still standing, and happily lead by Dr. W. W. 
Hamilton, joined in singing the beautiful hymn, 
“There is a land that is fairer than day.” 

These impressive exercises were appropri- 
ately closed when, led by Dr. E. Y. Mullins, 
President of the Southern Baptist Seminary, 
bowed hearts waited at the throne of God’s 
grace. 

Into the fireproof library building of the 
Seminary, and as the property of the Historical 
Society will thus be placed the writings and 
the portrait of this good and great man. May 
they long prove the helpful inspiration to gen- 
eration after generation of young men, prepar- 
ing to preach, to a lost world, the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ our Lord. “He being dead, yet 
speaketh.” 


THE END 


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